


Midnight Musing

by ValkyrieWolf246



Category: Mystery Skulls Animated
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2018-11-01
Packaged: 2019-08-14 03:24:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16485059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ValkyrieWolf246/pseuds/ValkyrieWolf246
Summary: With the Mystery Skulls back together, Arthur muses one night about how much his life has changed.





	Midnight Musing

Arthur yawned and blinked tiredly as he watched the road in front of him. He was exhausted, but he felt that if he had anymore coffee or one more energy drink his heart would explode. Ever since they found Lewis Vivi had insisted that they revive the Mystery Skulls. Arthur couldn't help but smirk at the memory of Vivi excitedly explaining that having a real ghost on the team would make their paranormal adventures more exciting and fun. Their adventures resumed and for the most part everything was back to normal; Vivi and Lewis were reunited and everyone was happy. A familiar pang of loneliness poked his heart as he recalled how he felt just before Lewis died and their lives went to hell. While the happy couple did their best to not leave Arthur out he couldn't help but feel like that unwanted third wheel. It was all he could do to not roll his eyes and fake gag at their...intimate insinuations.

Arthur adjusted the rear view mirror to see his best friends in the back of the van. Lewis, in all his ghostly glory, was sprawled out on his back. Vivi and Mystery were curled up against his side to sap his warmth. The dreaded throb of loneliness returned at the sight. He returned his attention to the dirt road, boredly watching the bramble forest blur past as he drove. Once again, he would be the extra. Vivi and Lewis would be completely enamored with each other and he would fade into the background yet again. Arthur remembered how for the longest time he was okay with being alone, almost preferred it. But then he met Lewis, and Vivi, and Mystery, and suddenly he wasn't alone anymore. He had had a family. But Vivi and Lewis became a couple and Arthur could feel the distance slowly growing between him and them. He desperately didn't want to be all alone again...

Movement from the passenger seat caught Arthur's attention and snapped him out of his brooding. Well, he really wasn't alone anymore, was he?

Arthur grinned as he watched you stretch and reposition yourself in your sleep. You had insisted on sitting up front with him so you could keep him company. Arthur knew you had a hard time sleeping, your eyes were just as sunken and hollow as his and you had bags that rivaled his own, so when you fell asleep listening to the radio Arthur didn't have the heart to wake you. 

Vivi had introduced you into the Mystery Skulls one day. You had been a fairly new coworker at the Tome Tomb and were just as obsessed with the supernatural as Vivi was. Arthur had expected you to be energetic and outgoing like Vivi and was surprised to see how quiet and withdrawn you were. You quickly took to sneaking onto the front seat at night when Vivi and Mystery were fast asleep and you and him would talk until Arthur couldn't stay awake any longer. You followed him around like a lost puppy at Kingsmen Mechanics when the van needed to be worked on. You two bonded over memes and cat videos and retro video games. Arthur had to admit, he warmed up to you pretty fast considering how introverted he really was.

Of course, Vivi noticed the closeness and tried talking Arthur into taking you out somewhere, even going so far as to "set up" little trips and spills so you would run into him. Almost immediately Arthur caught on to what Vivi was trying to do. He appreciated her help, he really did, but he had explained to her numerous times that he was asexual and had no interest in doing such things. All he really wanted was a companion, someone that truly loved and cared for him like Lewis did for Vivi.

And it seemed like Arthur found a companion in you. He noticed the little things you tried to do for him when Vivi wasn't around to poke her nose in and interfere; you always offered to help him with the van even though you were mechanically illiterate, you mended his clothes when they tore while he worked, you even bullied him into sleeping on more than one occasion. Arthur felt his face heat up as he thought back to how you would stay up with him in the middle of the night after he had had yet another horrific nightmare. Despite his frequent protests you always got up and sat with him, let him vent his fears, and gave him much needed words of comfort. Arthur wasn't used to someone caring about him and his well being, other than his Uncle Lance. Quite frankly this startled him about you.

What also startled him was that you thought he was amazing. Arthur had never had anyone call him "amazing" before. You were so awed by his engineering prowess and his homemade mechanical arm that he felt a warm glow of pride he'd never felt before. Your constant praise left him feeling giddy and light. However, it was your habit of comparing yourself to him that bothered him. You had admitted to him once that you felt useless and dumb compared to his mechanical abilities. Arthur couldn't understand why you felt that way when he thought you were way more amazing than him.

Arthur glanced over at your sleeping form, reaching over to brush your bangs out of your face. His fingers lingered on your cheek; you didn't stir. He sighed contently and then broke out into a wide yawn. The analogue clock on the van's dash was pushing two in the morning. He decided it was a good time to stop for the night.


End file.
